The Show Must Go On: Heath Ledger’s Last Movie To Continue
 Through the magic of sleight of hand and CGI, Heath Ledger’s final movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, is scheduled to continue shooting:
Despite earlier reports that the director might shelve the $30 million production, Gilliam, whom [co-star Christopher] Plummer describes as “terribly saddened” by Ledger’s death is “trying to work out at this moment how to continue on. Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and I think they call it CGI…
“Terry was a very good friend [of Heath's],” adds Plummer. “He very wants to go on with the movie, and I can very much understand why. Because he wants to dedicate it to Heath, of course.”
Plummer goes on to say that Heath possibly contracted walking pneumonia while on set due to the combination of rigorous shooting schedule and nasty weather:
Confirming earlier reports that Ledger hadnt been feeling well on set, Plummer says, “we all caught colds because we were shooting outside on horrible, damp nights. But Heath’s went on and I don’t think he dealt with it immediately with the antibiotics.…I think what he did have was the walking pneumonia.”
On top of that, “He was saying all the time, ‘dammit, I can’t sleep’…and he was taking all these pills [to help him].”
As well as the damp cold and lack of sleep, Plummer describes the shoot as rigorous. “We had to shoot every second we were out there…there was hardly any time to go into the tent or the car to keep warm. We just kept shooting…boom, boom, boom…there was no pause. It was very, very hard work.”
The cynic in me wants to think that perhaps the reason for the continuation of filming is because of two reasons…one, that there would be a ton of money down the toilet if the film were to be shelved now; and two, because it was his last role, that is almost certain to bring in big bucks at the box office and in DVD sales. But the other part of me wants firmly to believe that it is being done in the spirit of friendship and out of a respect for the actor and his talent. I suspect, however, that it is some combination of all those things.
And I can’t say as I blame the people behind the movie for wanting to make some money. After all, movies nowadays, especially one such as this, are multimillion dollar projects. To shelve a project for sentimentality’s sake doesn’t make fiscal sense. Plus, I personally think that if one puts so much of oneself into a role, that one would want the show to go on, no matter what happened.
I think it would be a nice tribute if they can believably pull it off.
Oh, and the reports that Johnny Depp was going to step into the role? Probably not so, because they are saying that he’s been in no official talks and he is currently working on another movie.
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